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REVIEW: CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

Funny men, Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, team up for a buddy cop movie which is nowhere near as funny as the trailer.

The marketing for Central Intelligence was strong. Trailers showing clips that were hilariously funny, encouraged me to go see this. Though some scenes were funny, this film had me staring at Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart making complete fools of themselves.

Central Intelligence begins with Calvin Joyner (Hart), who basically peaked in popularity in high school, and now does nothing but live the life of a boring accountant. At work one day, Calvin receives a Facebook friend request from a man named Bob Stone, who ends up being Calvin’s high school classmate, Robbie Weirdicht. There’s not too much plot before Calvin is thrown into the world of international espionage.

I had high hopes for Central Intelligence. But watching this film became a chore more so than enjoyment. Some of the problems I had with this film comes from the director, Rawson Marshall Thurber. Thurber let Johnson and Hart (mostly Hart) run wild with scenes. The jokes provided by, I can only assume, Hart’s improvising, became too much. Though initially amusing, Thurber let Hart run wild with the scenes only to have me saying, “alright. I get it. You don’t have to repeat the same joke over and over again.” But none the less, Hart kept repeating the initial joke, over and over. Now the action scenes were hot and cold. I never fully enjoyed any of the action, because it came off unrealistic. There’s a scene where characters are shooting, point blank, at each other. But for some reason, Johnson never gets hit. Also, later on in that same sequence, Hart runs out, in the middle of gunfire, and doesn’t get hit either. I understand that the characters are supposed to be so good that they can dodge bullets. But these action scenes became laughable.

Johnson was probably my most tolerable character in the film. He was funny, but he also gave his all when acting in those action scenes. As for the supporting cast, they were hit and miss. Amy Ryan, who plays Agent Pamela Harris, is surprisingly funny. I admire Ryan for her acting abilities because she can pull of both comedic and dramatic styles. There’s a few scenes with Aaron Paul, who plays Phil in the film. Paul, who was a long way from his Breaking Bad acting ability, was okay, but he wasn’t too bad overall.

The premise for Central Intelligence is not as interesting as it may seem. For one, The C.I.A does not have jurisdiction to investigate within the United States. Therefore, the criminal activities would have been investigated by the F.B.I. So in reality, none of this film would have happened. But stating that fact is for my sake. For the most part this film tries to take a stand on bullying and its hurtful effects on someone. Both Hart and Johnson play against their normal stereotypes, but it really doesn’t do much for the film as a whole. If you’re looking for a “buddy cop” film to see this weekend, you’d be better off watching The Nice Guys.